Research paper 1: Urban Planning and Health Equity

Author: Anas.p
Published By:
Date:17.nov.2023

ABSTRACT
Urban planning and health is always interconnected, they always go hand to hand
and often for better industrialization, health mostly gets sacrificed. Form the 19 th
century onwards the efforts reformers towards industrialization started on a large
scale, then the urban planning and health was taken Care together but by the 20 th
century onwards the health started decreasing, because at that time the
professionals were focusing on diseases, this caused them to ignore health effects
in planning. Now even though many Citys advanced most of them have severe
health problems. The aim is to collaborate and work together with science to find
big challenges in creating healthier cities

INTRODUCTION
In the past due to the concerns about health has led to the formation of public
health and urban planning, small early efforts like buildibg codes and sewerage
system, aim of these were to decrease health problems and increase living
condition, but today even with doing all these health problems still exists,
currently more renewed focus on social deterinants of health and urban planning
is coming forward to find these issues. Governments are coming forward with
ecological and science perspective, recognizing that both physical environment
and complex social systems influence health. The goal is to continuously improve
the maximum health benefits,

In the figure 1 a simple heuristic of an ecological model is given, as we study this

figure we can understand how the intrvention of lover level tents to be more
effective and how the intervenion of idividual agency effect and stands in the way
of obtaining maximum possible sustainable public health
In figure 2 there is given three pathways,
The first pathway addresses health inequities arising from unequal distribution of
resources based on factors like gender, race, and socioeconomic status. An
example is creating incentive programs to attract supermarkets to underserved
neighborhoods, aiming to improve access to nutritious foods.

The second pathway focuses on the physical and social environment, aiming for a
fair distribution of elements that promote or harm health. This involves urban
planning strategies to shape environments favoring non-motorized travel, safe
housing, and community spaces. Participatory planning processes can ensure a
more equitable distribution of health-promoting and harmful elements.
The third pathway emphasizes increased opportunities and political power,
achievable through urban planning initiatives like providing safe transportation.
Coupled with broader policies supporting living wages and education, this
pathway aims to enhance political power for marginalized populations, potentially
leading to improved health equity through redistributed opportunities and
resources.

FINDINGS
Urban planning
• Urban planning primely focus on how to use lands effectively by
determining the distribution and density of elements like stores,highways
and parks
• Unequal distribution of sidewalks and bicycle lanes in communities,
influenced by urban form, can contribute to health disparities related to
non-motorized travel such as walking and bicycling.
• Transportation researchers use a utility maximization framework,
considering factors like density and accessibility, to explore how urban form
influences travel behavior and, subsequently, population health.
• Ecological models emphasize influences at various levels, including
individual preferences, interpersonal behaviors, and environmental factors
like neighborhood "walkability," giving weight to group-level attitudes.
• Individuals, to some extent, choose their built environments based on
preferences, influencing neighborhood selection and potentially impacting
physical activity levels.
• While self-selection may explain some links between the built environment
and health, it may be more relevant for advantaged populations, with
disadvantaged populations having limited choices due to socioeconomic
constraints and housing discrimination.
• Two pathways through which the built environment may contribute to
health disparities: (a) if access to walkable or bicycle-friendly
neighborhoods is influenced by socioeconomic status, and (b) if
 socioeconomic groups are differentially affected by the built environment,
potentially leading to persistent health inequalities.

Evidence on Urban Form and Health Equity

• Peer-reviewed literature establishes a convincing link between the built
environment and non-motorized travel, indicating a positive association
with physical activity.
• Despite consistent findings, establishing causality is uncertain. Cross-
sectional data dominate studies, and longitudinal components yield mixed
results regarding the impact of changing neighborhoods on non-motorized
travel.
• Some studies suggest an "activity budget," where total physical activity
remains fixed, but environmental factors influence how individuals choose
to be active.
• Studies like Krizek's found that changing neighborhoods didn't alter the
likelihood of non-motorized travel. However, Handy's research showed
increased walking after moving to more "walkable" neighborhoods.
• Scientific literature lacks consensus on the relationship between urban
form and health equity. Challenges arise from the narrow scope and scale
of available evidence, especially concerning older city neighborhoods with
higher density and "walkability."

CONCLUSION
How we design cities can impact our health, it is caused by factors like how much we move
around, what kinda food we eat more, eniviormental hazards in the form of pollutents, social
stagerations, so we have to understand theses problems better and collabrate and use
science make our cities more healthier